The present invention relates generally to an attachment integrated claims (AIC) system for preparing and processing forms with integrated attachments. More specifically, the present invention relates to an AIC system for preparing and processing digital insurance claims including Prior Approval Claim (PAC) Applications containing both a text form and an integrated digitized attachment. A method of operating a totally digital AIC system is also disclosed.
High administrative costs for filing and processing health insurance claims have been the bane of the health insurance industry from its inception. Over the years, many attempts have been made to develop a faster and more cost effective claims processing system. Three stages in this development effort are described in the following correspondingly numbered paragraphs.
(1) The original system involved hard copy paper claims only, with transmission and all processing done manually. Originally, an insurance claim was filed by the patient or the health care provider filling out a paper form. The completed paper form was then mailed to the insurance company. At the insurance company, the paper claim form went through a series of administrative steps, all the time remaining as a hard copy paper object. When a decision was made, the decision was written up and archived with the claim form; a hard copy was also sent to the patient and/or provider along with the payment.
(2) The first significant advancement resulted from the introduction of the mainframe computer. This allowed for electronic processing within a given insurance company, i.e., once the claim was on the computer inside the company, the paper form could be dispensed with. Computerization is a highly effective way of reducing administrative overhead in claims processing.
Thus, mainframe computers were purchased and installed internally at the insurance companies. Since these computers were intended for internal use only, each company thought only of its own needs and had its claims management software customized. While the claims management software for a number of insurance companies would be written in the same high-level programming language, e.g., COBOL, the similarity between software programs often ended there. There were many virtues to these early systems, primarily with respect to decreased administrative costs, but a major drawback was that the data for each xe2x80x9cpaperxe2x80x9d claim had to be entered into the computer to form an electronic claim. This necessitated the manual transcription of exactly the same information that had been handwritten into the original paper claim before it was sent to the insurance company.
(3) The next advancement was the electronic filing of claim forms. This was made possible by the introduction of the personal computer and modem into the provider""s office. The main purpose of this stage was to eliminate the manual re-entry of information into the insurance company mainframe.
The basic idea was to have the providers fill out an electronic claim form, instead of a paper claim form. This electronic form, which would be stored in the memory of their PCs, would then be transmitted, as a computer file, to the insurance company. It could then be integrated directly into the electronic claims processing system without the manual re-entry of data. Thus, the technology existed to produce a system that computerized the overall filing and processing of the insurance claim from the point of entry, the provider""s office, to the final report of the claims adjuster.
Although the idea was straightforward, implementation was not. Two basic problems had to be overcome in order to create a viable system. First, the information contained in the electronic claim form had to be integrated into the claims processing software at the insurance company. Second, a majority of providers have to be able to interface with a majority of insurance companies, i.e., insurance company mainframe computers. However, because of the way computers had entered the insurance industry originally (stage #2), there was no industry-wide standard, i.e., the legacy mainframe computers of the different insurance companies were incompatible. This was true both with respect to the type of software used and with respect to the information that each company required on its claim form.
One attempt to deal with these problems was the creation, by a consortium of insurance companies, of the National Electronic Information Corporation (NEIC). NEIC""s basic function is that of a clearinghouse. It interfaces between the insurance companies and the service providers. It also establishes rigid standards that must be met in order to transmit an electronic claim form to an insurance company. In practice, the service provider sends an electronic claim to a vendor, who performs a service such as screening of the form. The vendor then transmits the form to NEIC, which then re-transmits it to the patient""s insurance company. Since it is a computer file, the information in the electronic claim form can then be entered directly into the company""s mainframe claims processing system, without the manual re-entry of data, and then processed.
Thus, a coherent system was created that allows for the electronic filing, transmission, and processing of insurance claims. This system is employed by thousands of providers and hundreds of insurance companies.
NEIC was designed to act as a clearinghouse for claims that are 100% text and that conform to very restrictive formats. For claims that meet these conditions it functions well, resulting in substantial savings on administrative costs for the insurance companies. It has been estimated that going to this third stage system results in savings of as much as 60% in claims processing costs.
But there are many claims that do not meet these conditions. These would include claims that require additional text information that doesn""t fit into the prescribed format and/or claims that require non-text information. In general, these are called xe2x80x9cclaims with attachments.xe2x80x9d xe2x80x9cAttachmentsxe2x80x9d are any additional information that must be sent with the xe2x80x9cstandard text claim form.xe2x80x9d This could include: pictures, graphs, additional text not allowed on the standard claim form, sound recordings, etc.
An example of such a claim would be the PAC (Prior Approval Claim), which may be alternately denoted as a xe2x80x9cPretreatment Claimxe2x80x9d. These are claims that are sent to the insurance carrier before a procedure is performed. For example, pretreatment claims are often required by dental insurance companies on any procedure over a specified amount, e.g., $200. The aspect of this type of claim which renders it incompatible with the present electronic claim processing system is that the insurance companies require that additional medical evidence be included, i.e., attached to, the text part of the claim form. In an exemplary case, the additional medical evidence is an x-ray.
The goal of the insurance company is to review the claim, i.e., both the text form and attachment, and to do so in a cost effective manner. The natural next stage in the development of claims processing systems is to attempt to computerized this process.
Scanners are now available that can digitize a dental x-ray, i.e., convert it into a computer file that can be viewed on a monitor. But transforming the medical evidence into digital form is not enough to facilitate electronic processing of claims with attachments. One must also take into consideration the existing claims processing infrastructure, i.e., the legacy infrastructure.
The difficulty with trying to include a digitized x-ray for processing with an electronic claim form, within the current infrastructure, is multifaceted. First, NEIC does not at the present time allow this type of information to be transmitted through NEIC to the insurance companies. Second, with the current system, the claims adjusters access claims information through terminals connected to mainframes. But there is the inherent problem of displaying images on mainframe computers. This is especially true of mainframe computers running software written in business programming languages such as COBOL. It might be thought that a solution to this problem would be to replace the terminal with a PC. Although many personal computers provide the graphics support needed to display the digitized x-ray, there are significant problems in interfacing a PC with a mainframe computer. For example, in order to interface with the mainframe computer, PCs often run terminal emulation software which permits the PC to act like a dedicated, dumb terminal attached to the mainframe computer. Terminal emulation software is notoriously lacking in graphics capability. And finally, getting a digitized x-ray from one provider to one insurance company is not all that is needed. Rather, what is really needed is an industry-wide system whereby a provider can interact with any insurance company. This results in a massive interfacing problem since there are multitudes of insurance companies using different legacy hardware systems and company unique software.
Each time a way has been found to more fully utilize computers in claims processing systems, the administrative costs associated with claims processing have gone down. However, in the area of xe2x80x9cclaims with attachments,xe2x80x9d no coherent industry-wide system exists that allows for the integrated filing, transmitting and processing of these claims electronically, i.e., via computers. Thus, when attachments are required, providers are forced to submit hard copy claim applications, while insurance companies labor under an administrative system that is a hybrid between a manual and an electronic system, i.e., a hybrid between stage #1 and stage #2. This hybrid system, which is described in greater detail below, is labor intensive, prone to problems, and slow. For providers, insurance companies, and patients, this is a time-consuming, costly and irritating process.
In short, there is at least one type of insurance claim that ha, not, until now, been able to avail itself of the third stage of computerization, as described above. In fact, there are even difficulties with the second stage. This group includes any claim whose xe2x80x9cstandard text formxe2x80x9d must be accompanied by additional information that does not fit into this standard format, e.g., x-rays, EKGs, additional text information such as Operating Room Reports, etc. In general, these are referred to as xe2x80x9cattachments.xe2x80x9d One primary example of this would be Prior Approvals for dental procedures. Prior Approval Claim (PAC) applications are those claims that are submitted for the purpose of receiving a predetermination of benefits from the insurance company for a procedure that hasn""t as yet been performed.
In the area of Prior Approval Claims, the goals of the insurance companies are to validate the necessity of the procedure and to determine whether the patient""s insurance policy obligates the insurance company to pay for such a procedure. This requires that the insurance company itself review the medical evidence. For an insurance company""s in-house dentist, for example, to make this appraisal, the dentist is required to review both the xe2x80x9ctext formxe2x80x9d and the accompanying x-ray of the patient. However, the presence of a film x-ray means that electronic claims methods cannot be implemented. The savings associated with electronic claim processing is not available with respect to Prior Approval Claim forms.
Nationwide, there are approximately 200,000 dental PACs filed per week. Roughly, for every PAC application there will be eventually a Final Payment Claim (FPC) submitted when the medical procedure is completed. It is estimated that the overall administrative cost is $25 per PAC form and $10 for the Final Payment Claim. It is also estimated that if a coherent electronic system could be implemented, it would reduce these administrative costs to $15 per PAC and $5 per Final Payment Claim. The savings could amount to as much as $3,000,000 per week collectively for the health care industry for dental PACs and FPCs alone.
An example of a hybrid system of claim processing currently in use will now be described with reference to FIGS. 1, 2A and 2B.
Referring first to FIG. 1, the U.S. Postal Service, denoted as 100, connects the service provider""s office 200 with the insurance company 300. It will be appreciated that, since PAC form handling is entirely manual at location 200, the service provider""s office is depicted as lacking computer equipment. In contrast, the insurance company typically has at least one mainframe computer 350 to which terminals 351, 352 on the respective reviewing dentist""s and claims adjuster""s desks are connected. It should also be noted that the mail room 320 is charged with a variety of tasks associated with the incoming and outgoing correspondence, as discussed in greater detail below.
As will be appreciated from FIG. 1, a paper PAC form is filled out by the patient and/or the provider and, along with the substantiating x-ray, is mailed to the patient""s insurance company. Upon entering the mail room of the insurance company, the PAC form is assigned a document identification number (DIN) and the data from the PAC form is then entered into the company""s mainframe computer. This same DIN is affixed to the x-ray. The x-ray is then manually delivered to the reviewing dentist.
By using the DIN on the x-ray, the reviewing dentist downloads, from the mainframe computer, the textual part of the patient""s PAC application. The dentist makes a decision, records it in the memory of the mainframe computer, and has a hard copy of the Predetermination form posted back to the provider. Once the procedure has been completed, the provider""s office completes the Predetermination form, or fills out a separate Final Payment Claim (FPC) form. This is then posted to the insurance company. A chronological, detailed, step-by-step description of the hybrid system will now be provided with reference to FIGS. 1, 2A and 2B.
During step S1, the dentist decides that a costly procedure is necessary for a patient whose insurance carrier requires prior approval for such treatment. During, step S2, the dentist provides the patient with his diagnosis and gives the patient an estimate for performing the recommended procedure. The dentist then asks the patient to contact his insurance carrier, or plan administrator at work, to obtain the necessary PAC form. During step S3, the patient completes that portion of the PAC form that pertains to him, signs the form, and sends it to his provider.
After the PAC form arrives at the provider""s office at step S4, one of the office personnel retrieves the patient""s file and the PAC form at step S5, extracts the patient""s x-ray, either the original, a copy of the original, or a second, previously taken x-ray, during step S6, and the PAC form is filled out entirely by hand, i.e., the information about the provider has to be entered every time a new PAC form is received, during step S7. Copies of the completed form are made and are placed in the patient""s file during step S8. The envelope containing the PAC form is addressed to the appropriate insurance company at step S9. The form and the x-rays are placed in the envelope during step S10. An entry is made in both the patient""s computer file (if the provider""s office is equipped with one) and his hard copy file indicating that the PAC form has been sent during step S11 and, finally, during step S12, the envelope is mailed. See task T1 in FIG. 1.
The envelope meanders through the U.S. Postal Service 100 for several days at step S13 until the envelope finally arrives at the mail room 320 of the insurance company 300 at step S14. In the mail room, the envelope is opened (step S15), the data from the PAC form is entered into the insurance company""s mainframe computer 350 and is given a Document Identification Number (DIN) that identifies the patient and the current claim application (step S16). See task T2 in FIG. 1. During step S17, the x-ray is labeled with the same DIN. It will be appreciated that the DIN on the x-ray and in the document now on the mainframe computer must be identical. It will also be appreciated that for some insurance companies, this manual processing is contracted to an outside agency, which would require several more steps, which steps will not be described further.
During step S18, the x-ray is manually forwarded to the reviewing dentist""s area. See task T3 in FIG. 1. During step S19, the PAC form is transferred to a directory and waits to be read by a reviewing dentist.
During step S20, a group of x-rays arrives from the mail room at the reviewing dentist""s area. A film x-ray is pulled out of the waiting pile by the dentist during step S21 and the reviewing dentist then accesses the xe2x80x9cPAC formxe2x80x9d directory during step S22 by, for example, reading the DIN from the x-ray and typing the DIN into the computer. The electronic PAC form corresponding to this x-ray is located in memory and downloaded to the reviewing dentist""s monitor during step S23.
The procedure requested is read off the terminal monitor and the film x-ray is reviewed during step S24 and a determination is made during step S25. It will be appreciated that a determination refers to either an approval or a denial of the request. Assuming that the procedure is approved, a statement (or explanation) of benefits (EOB) is also generated. For the purposes of this discussion, it will be assumed that the procedure is approved; a denial would necessitate a parallel but alternative set of processing steps, which steps will not be further described. During step S26, the insurance company""s Predetermination form is filled out either electronically or by hand. For an electronic Predetermination form, the form is saved to the memory of the insurance company""s mainframe computer during step S27. The x-ray is returned to the mail room during step S28. See task T4 in FIG. 1.
Following approval, a paper copy of the Predetermination form is made during step S29. See task T5 in FIG. 1. An envelope is then addressed to the referring dentist and the Predetermination form is placed in the envelope during step S30. During step S31, the corresponding x-ray is matched with the Predetermination form and, during step S32, the corresponding x-rays are placed in the envelope. The envelope then goes back into the U.S. Postal System 100 during step S33. See task T6 in FIG. 1.
Some days later, the envelope finally arrives at the dentist""s office 200 and is opened during step S34. The results are noted in both the patient""s paper file and computer file during step S35, the x-rays are returned to the patient""s paper file at step S36, and the patient is notified of the approval and a date is set for performing the approved treatment during step S37.
The treatment is completed during step S38 and the Final Payment Claim (FPC) form is filled out during step S39. It will be appreciated that the Final Payment Claim form, for many insurance companies, is merely a subsection of the Predetermination form generated in step S29 (See the paper denoted P* in FIG. 1.); alternatively, the Final Payment Claim form could be yet another form supplied by the insurance company.
The Final Payment Claim form is then sent back to the insurance company with a copy of the signed Predetermination form during step S40. See task T7 in FIG. 1. The Final Payment Claim form enters the mail room as a paper form and the final processing begins during step S41. It will be appreciated that the processing of the Final Claim Form typically requires making several entries in the information stored on the mainframe computer 350 and may require the preparation of one or more forms needed to authorize payment of the final claim. However, since an attachment is not normally associated with the Final Claim Form, additional discussion regarding disposition of the Final Claim Form within the insurance company will not be provided.
Thus, the hybrid system under discussion is one that starts in the provider""s office when a patient is told that a PAC form is needed and continues until the procedure has been completed and a Final Payment Claim form has been submitted to the insurance company for payment. It will be appreciated that a myriad of problems and inefficiencies arise due to claim processing in accordance with the hybrid system. The principal problems are as follows:
1. All information needed to complete the PAC form has to be entered by hand. Moreover, all of the information on the PAC form is also manually transcribed in order to transfer the information from paper to the insurance company""s mainframe computer. Both of these manual data entry process steps are time consuming, very costly, and prone to human error;
2. The x-ray film and the text form are put together and then separated several times during the overall claim processing;
3. The hybrid system requires that a hard copy of the x-ray be sent to the insurance company. Generally, this x-ray is returned to the provider. Moreover, the requirement that the dentist provide the x-ray typically means that a duplicate x-ray has to be made by the dentist, which increases the dentist""s cost for the service. Oftentimes, the duplicate x-ray is of poor quality and cannot be read;
4. Because prior approval claim forms cannot be processed electronically, and because PAC forms make up half of all the claims that approximately 20,000 oral surgeons, periodontists, and orthodontists make each year, these 20,000 providers have no compelling reason to initiate electronic claims or Final Payment Claims;
5. The document identification number is affixed to the x-ray and the electronic text in two different processes, one physical and the other electronic. This leads to errors;
6. After the procedure has been completed, almost identical information may again have to be entered by hand in order to prepare the Final Payment Claim form;
7. While direct digital x-ray equipment is available, it is difficult to integrate a digital x-ray into the current hybrid claims processing system, i.e., these computerized images would first have to be transferred to film, which would, of course, negate the major advantage for using direct digital x-rays;
8. Some insurance companies would like to require that x-rays accompany all dental claims; they are prevented from doing so because of the high administrative overhead associated with handling hardcopy claims;
9. The patient has to obtain the PAC form from the insurance company or his employer. In either case, this causes the patient time, is an irritant, and imposes unnecessary delays on the delivery of medical care to the insured;
10. With the hybrid system, no prescreening of the PAC form for errors is performed before the PAC form goes to the insurance company; and
11. Provider information, i.e., the dentist""s information, often has to be entered separately on each new PAC form that is submitted.
In summary, the current method for handling PAC applications is a hybrid system somewhere between a Stage 1, a totally paper-based manual processing system, and a Stage 2 internally computerized insurance company processing system. It is part electronic and part hard copy. Also, each form must be handled twice, once as a hard copy and once as an electronic copy. This is the source of a great many of the above described problems. Moreover, the current hybrid method is costly. The process starting at the provider""s office, continuing through the insurance company and finally to the return of the Predetermination form to the provider has been estimated to cost $25. Furthermore, the whole process is filled with potential for error, frustration, wasted time and money.
The workflow for the filing and processing of a PAC form was described above with respect to the dental health insurance which was used, by way of example, to illustrate the circuitous process involved when a hard copy attachment is present. Other types of claims, or attachments, or different insurance companies might require slightly different steps. For example, instead of returning an attachment, as describe above, the attachment might need to be microfilmed and archived, or some of the information contained in the attachment itself might need to be entered into the mainframe. Regardless of these differences, there are similarities in the problems that arise in processing such claims.
The present invention was motivated by the desire to overcome the problems associated with the above-described hybrid system for processing xe2x80x9cforms with attachments.xe2x80x9d The intent was to create a coherent system that allows for the electronic filing, transmission, and processing of these forms, e.g., claims. That is, a system that would create a Stage #3 level of computerization for xe2x80x9cforms with attachments.xe2x80x9d More specifically, the present invention was motivated by the desire to eliminate, to the maximum extent possible, all processing steps described above which are in any way connected with the presence of a hard copy attachment.
One purpose of the present invention is to create a coherent system that allows for the electronic filing, transmission, and processing of xe2x80x9cinsurance claims with attachments,xe2x80x9d and to thereby overcome the many deficiencies of the hybrid system claims processing methodology described above.
Thus, one object according to the present invention is to provide a PAC form processing system which minimizes the necessity of manual data entry. According to one aspect of the present invention, only about 40% of the information needed to complete the PAC form has to be entered by hand. According to another aspect of the present invention, the amount of information that has to be manually re-entered by an operator is essentially zero.
Another object according to the present invention is to provide a PAC application processing system which eliminates handling errors resulting in a mismatch between, for example, a PAC form and an associated patient x-ray. According to another aspect of the invention, mismatch errors are virtually eliminated since the electronic x-ray and the associated text are never separated; field data included in, for example, the PAC form is copied and transferred between the server and the mainframe computer systems inside the insurance company. According to yet another aspect of the invention, mismatch errors are virtually eliminated since no hard copy of the x-ray is ever sent to the insurance carrier.
Still another object according to the present invention is to provide a PAC application processing system which increases the number of service providers employing electronic claims systems to thereby reduce the overall claims processing costs. Since a PAC form can now be handled electronically in accordance with the present invention, electronic final payment claims become viable for approximately 20,000 additional dentists.
A still further object according to the present invention is to provide a PAC application processing system in which Document Identification Numbers, or some other method of uniquely specifying the PAC, are simultaneously associated with both the text and the x-ray by a single computer entry.
Yet another object according to the present invention is to provide a PAC application processing system which operates at lower cost. Cost efficiencies are readily achieved according to the present invention by eliminating the need to send a physical x-ray with the claim.
Another object according to the present invention is to provide a cost effective claim processing system wherein little or no information on either the PAC form or the Predetermination form has to be manually re-entered.
Still another object according to the present invention is to provide a system for packaging textual data with an associated digitized x-ray for transmission to an insurance company. It will be appreciated that direct digital images are easy to integrate into the system because such images are already in the form of a computer file.
Another object according to the present invention is to provide a totally digital PAC application processing system which can accommodate both text and digitized x-rays at low cost, thereby allowing insurance companies to require x-rays with all claims because such requirements will not significantly increase the processing cost associated with non-x-ray documented claims.
An additional object according to the present invention is to provide a totally digital PAC application processing system in which a customizable claim form, i.e., the PAC form, which addresses the needs of all insurance carriers is stored in the memory of the computer in every service provider""s office. This, in combination with a non-clearing house communications channel and having AIC system software at all of the insurance carriers, then eliminates the need for imposing industry-wide standards, such as ANSI ASC X12, for claim-related electronic transactions. The present invention allows each individual insurance company to get the information that it requires and to get that information in what ever format that insurance company prefers. Moreover, the ability to transmit the customizable claim form and integrated attachment to an insurance carrier via a non-clearing house communications channel advantageously permits the transmission of other types of claims, including worker""s compensation claims, to the insurance carrier. In addition, it will eliminate the irritant of the patient or provider having to obtain a PAC form from a particular insurance company.
Another object according to the present invention is to provide a totally digital PAC application processing system in which prescreening of information entered into a PAC form, which is stored in the memory of the computer in the service provider""s office, is easily performed.
Yet another object according to the present invention is to provide a totally digital PAC application processing system in which provider information is automatically entered into each PAC form.
It will be appreciated that none of the above-identified objects need actually be present in the invention defined by the appended claims. In other words, only certain, and not all, objects of the invention have been specifically described above. Numerous other objects advantageously may be provided by the invention, as defined in the appended claims, without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.
According to one aspect, the present invention provides a combination of storage media storing computer readable instructions for permitting non-networked computers to cooperate synergistically, including first, second, and third storage media. Preferably, the first storage medium stores computer readable instructions for permitting a first computer system to receive textual data as field data, to assemble the field data and a corresponding digitized attachment into a first file and to transmit the first file to a second computer system via the Internet, while the second storage medium stores computer readable instructions for permitting the second computer system to receive the first file via the Internet, to display the first file including the digitized attachment on a first window generated by a graphics user interface (GUI) instantiated by the second computer system, to display a second file in a second window, and to transfer the field data to a third computer system operatively connected to the second computer system. Additionally, the third storage medium stores computer readable instructions for permitting the third computer system to receive the field data from the second computer system, to process the field data to thereby generate the second file including portions of the field data extracted from the first file, and to transmit the second file to the second computer system.
According to another aspect, the present invention provides a combination of storage media storing computer readable instructions for permitting non-networked computers to cooperate synergistically, including first, second and third storage media. More specifically, the first storage medium stores computer readable instructions for permitting a first computer system to receive textual data as field data, to assemble the field data and a corresponding digitized attachment into a first file and to transmit the first file to a second computer system via the Internet, the second storage medium stores computer readable instructions for permitting the second computer system to receive the first file via the Internet, to display the corresponding first field data in a first window generated by a graphics user interface (GUI) instantiated by the second computer system, to display the digitized attachment in a second window, to display a second file in a third window, and to transfer the field data to a third computer system operatively connected to the second computer system, and the third storage medium stores computer readable instructions for permitting the third computer system to receive the field data from the second computer system, to process the field data to thereby generate the second file including portions of the field data extracted from the first file, and to transmit the second file to the second computer system.
According to yet another aspect, the present invention encompasses a system for transmitting and receiving attachment integrated files, each containing a plurality of field data and digitized data corresponding to at least one of the field data, over the Internet, the system including a first computer system and a second computer system. The first computer system advantageously includes a first memory storing a first software module containing first operating instructions readable by the first computer system, a first display device for displaying a predetermined first form, the first form being stored in the first memory, a first input device permitting entry of first alpha-numeric characters into the first form, and a first processor for converting the first alpha-numeric characters into fields to thereby generate first field data, and converting the first field data and the digitized data into one of the attachment integrated files responsive to the first operating instructions. Preferably, the second computer system, which receives the one of the attachment integrated files from the first computer system via the Internet, includes a second memory storing a second software module containing second operating instructions readable by the second computer system, a second input device permitting entry of second alpha-numeric characters required to complete a second form into the second form, a second display device for displaying the first form, the second form, the first and second forms being stored in the second memory, and the digitized data, wherein at least a portion of the first alpha-numeric characters are exhibited in the first and second forms simultaneously, and a second processor for automatically inserting the second alpha-numeric characters into fields to thereby generate second field data, and automatically generating an outgoing message containing the second field data responsive to the second operating instructions.
According to a still further aspect, the present invention provides a system for transmitting and receiving attachment integrated mail messages, each containing a plurality of field data and digitized data corresponding to at least one of the field data, over the Internet. Advantageously, the system includes:
a first device generating one of the attachment integrated files including:
a second device storing first operating instructions readable by the first device;
a third device generating the digitized data;
a fourth device exhibiting a predetermined first form, the first form being stored in the second device;
a fifth device entering first alpha-numeric characters into the first form; and
a sixth device converting the first alpha-numeric characters into fields to thereby generate first field data, and converting the first field data and the digitized data into the one of the attachment integrated files;
a seventh device which transmits the one of the attachment integrated files over the Internet; and
an eighth device receiving the one of the attachment integrated files from the seventh device, including:
a ninth device storing second operating instructions readable by the eighth device;
a tenth device for entering second alpha-numeric characters required to complete a predetermined second form into the second form;
an eleventh device for exhibiting the first form, the second form, the first and second forms being stored in the ninth means, and the digitized data, wherein at least a portion of the first alpha-numeric characters are exhibited in the first and second forms simultaneously; and
a twelfth device for converting the second alpha-numeric characters into fields to thereby generate second field data, and for generating an outgoing file containing the second field data.
According to a still further aspect, the present invention provides a method for permitting non-networked computers including first, second and third computers, each of the first, second and third computers including a memory, an input device, and a display, respectively, the first and the second computers being connected to one another by the Internet, and the first computer including a digitizing device, to cooperate synergistically. Preferably, the method includes steps for:
(a) retrieving a first form from storage in the first computer""s memory and displaying the first form on the first computer""s display;
(b) writing first field data to the first form using the first computer""s input device;
(c) generating a digitized attachment;
(d) combining the digitized attachment and the first form so as to generate an attachment integrated file;
(e) transmitting the attachment integrated file to the second computer via the Internet;
(f) transmitting the first field data from the second computer to the third computer;
(g) generating a second form upon receipt of the attachment integrated file, the first and second forms containing at least a portion of the first field data on the third computer;
(h) displaying the first form, the second form and an image corresponding to the digitized attachment in respective windows of a graphical user interface (GUI) generated by the second computer;
(i) inserting second field data into the second form using the second computer""s input device;
(j) transmitting the first and second field data corresponding to second form back to the first computer via the Internet.
According to another aspect, the present invention encompasses a method for operating a computer network including first and second computer systems connected via the Internet, each of the first and second computers including a memory, an input device, and a display, respectively. The method includes steps for:
(a) retrieving a first form from storage in the first computer system""s memory and displaying the first form on the first computer system""s display;
(b) writing first field data to the first form using the first computer system""s input device;
(c) combining a digital attachment and the first form so as to generate an attachment integrated file;
(d) transmitting the attachment integrated file to the second computer system over the Internet;
(e) generating a second form upon receipt of the attachment integrated file, the first and second forms containing at least a portion of the first field data;
(f) displaying the second form and an image corresponding to the digital attachment on a graphical user interface (GUI) instantiated on the second computer system""s display; and
(g) writing second field data to the second form using the second computer system""s input device.
These and other objects, features and advantages of the invention are disclosed in or will be apparent from the following description of preferred embodiments.